Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology is standardized under the ECMA 368/369 specification. In particular, the ECMA 368/369 standard specifies a distributed medium access control (MAC) Layer and a physical (PHY) Layer for WTRUs that support data rates up to 480 megabits per second (Mbps). The PHY layer is designed to operate in the 3.1 to 10.6 gigahertz (GHz) frequency spectrum and has been accepted as a common platform for technologies such as next generation Bluetooth®, wireless universal serial bus (WUSB) and wireless Firewire (IEEE 1394).
The ECMA 368 PHY uses a multi-band orthogonal frequency division modulation (MB OFDM) to transmit information. The ECMA 368 PHY specification operating frequency spectrum is divided into 5 radio band groups with each radio band, or equivalent carrier spacing, being 528 MHz. The first four radio band groups have three radio bands of 528 MHz, while the fifth band group includes two radio bands of 528 MHz each. The capability to operate in the first radio band group is mandatory. However, operating in the other radio band groups is optional.
The ECMA 386 MAC layer has a completely distributed architecture and provides MAC services to a higher layer protocols or to an adaptation layer. There is no central coordinating device and each device supports all MAC functions. Devices within radio range coordinate with each other using periodic beacon frames. These beacon frames provide network timing, scheduling and capability information, as well as other information and functions.
One way in which the beacon frames provide information is via an information element (IE) included in the beacon frame or in a command frame. This IE may include a beacon period (BP) switch IE and/or a distributed reservation protocol (DRP) IE. The BP switch IE, in particular, may include an element ID field, a length field, a BP move countdown field, a beacon slot offset field, and a BP start (BPST) offset field.
In addition, MAC superframe structures from ECMA 368 include beacon periods (BPs) and medium access slots (MASs).
One issue with the mechanism and rates currently supported by the ECMA 368/369 standards is that it may be inadequate to support applications such as high definition TV (HDTV) which requires a data rate of 1 Gbps or greater, depending on the HDTV format. It would therefore be beneficial to provide a method and apparatus to enable multi-band transmission that can enable higher data rates in next generation (NG) UWB.